Speaking to Digital Spy and other journalists at an Emmerdale press event today (April 4), Iain said: "Death is not a neat thing and it doesn't conform to timetables.

"I just felt that somebody should have a relatively simple, but relatively large, unresolved issue around it all.

"Gabby's journey will be to realise that, actually, just because she wasn't there in that moment, doesn't mean that he didn't know she loved him.

"This might suggest that it is going to send Gabby off the rails, but that wasn't really the intention. We just wanted to tell a simple story about a grief experience that a lot of people might recognise. We are not trying to inflict any undue anguish on her, it just felt quite truthful."

Emmerdale will air Ashley's final episode on Friday, April 7 at 7pm on ITV.